An Unbiased Estimate of Present American Competitiveness from Deontological and Teleological Perspectives of Utilitarianism

Khan, Hamid, Competition Forum

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In this paper we are going to discuss American competitiveness with an eye on morality, ethics, economics, and politics. It is surprising to see that the global economy is growing, specifically in China and India, and infrastructure developments are taking place every day as an indication of some countries' growing economies. In contrast, here in the United States, the economy has not done so well in the past decade. Economies of major developing and developed nations have been studied and the comparison is not very pleasant. Economy watch and other relevant economic news give a very bleak picture of today's economy. The author's assertion here is that it is all due to lack of corporate ethics, corporate priorities, governmental ethics, and governmental priorities. In analyzing the situation, care has been taken to see that the moral point of view is taken and deontological and teleological theories are applied. Analysis shows whether or not, act utilitarianism or rule utilitarianism could have changed the course the United States has taken in these 20 years.

This article is written with some sentimental feelings about what happened to the author recently at an airport. The disrespect shown to people who were co- passengers in an airplane demonstrates that frustration has crept into our lives and we do take ourselves very seriously and disregard others as 'not of any consequence' or not as respectable. This decline in the American Value System is due to many factors which cannot be analyzed in this small article, but it is purely economic, and springs from insecurity of American lack of hegemony. It's all vividly clear that what is happening today has been fermented by connivance or was preempted 20 years back by an envisioning of an unjust and undeclared war called desert storm purely for economic gain but which misfired. The lack of ethics was the primary cause of war then and even now. Nothing has been gained after 20 years of war and it's not the same as it used to be since then for normal Americans.

Current Economic and Financial Barometer

Overall, US businesses still feel they operate at an advantage over global competitors, but this survey points to warning signs-such as loss of confidence in capital markets-that foreshadows strain. Such strain can worsen if the wrong policies are in place moving forward.

The first results are in from economy watch, and they are not great news for everyone. Simply put, it is not a good time to be an American. Last week they launched our economic indicators experiment, the world's first real-time Consumer Confidence Index from global economists at EconomyWatch.com. 48 Americans gave the US a rating of 562 (out of 1,000), broadly meaning that they expect the economy to stay the same. This is down from a confident 756 in mid May. In fact, responses in the last week have been on average below 500, meaning that most people in the US now believe things will get worse.

In contrast, according to Economy Watch, in "09 June 2011 according to a recent report by the organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD), Australia was ranked as the best advanced economy in the world to live in. The 2011 Your Better Life Index saw Australia attain extremely high scores in housing life satisfaction and the environment. The first two scores were not particularly surprising, especially after another recent study showed that Australians where the most relaxed nationality in the world when it came to household mortgages.

Where the US Has Lost Its Competitive Edge- Perceptions from Recent Data

The percent of executives surveyed who feel the US has lost competitiveness in the following areas

The basis of American competitiveness truly depends good judgments about international situations so that America is strong inside and legitimate outside, because it is the only superpower which is been left with the power to intervene in others' affairs. …

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